NEWS
Sky Cable funeral rites begin; Philippines’ platform goes dark from 27 February
29 January 2024
ABS-CBN has begun funeral rites for its once lively Sky Cable platform, which goes dark 26 February at one minute to midnight.
On Friday, ABS-CBN thanked subscribers for their ”years of support and for making SkyCable a part of your home”.
The farewell follows last year’s sale of ABS-CBN Corporation’s interest in Sky Cable’s broadband business and related assets to Philippines’ telco/media giant PLDT.
A condition of sale was that Sky’s pay-TV/cable business – one of the region’s longest-running pay-TV platforms – was terminated.
Sky will now transition into a dedicated internet service provider.
The Philippine Competition Commission gave the go-ahead earlier this month, but the sale is still subject to various closing conditions.
The PLDT’s acquisition of Sky’s broadband business was announced in March last year in a PHP6.75-billion/US$123-million deal.
In terms of the original announcement, ABS-CBN will receive about PHP4 billion/US$73 million for its 58.7% stake in Sky Cable.
At the time, ABS-CBN described its exit as a “strategic decision” driven by the capex required to maintain the platform’s competitiveness.
ABS-CBN said that the sale would allow the company to “focus its resources on content creation”.
The sale follows years of to and fro between PLDT and ABS-CBN, which was forced off air in 2020 after its broadcast franchise was not renewed.
In late 2020, a deal that included Sky Cable’s pay-TV business collapsed because of anti-trust regulatory risks.
At the time, the deal would have combined the PLDT’s Cignal TV with one-time pay-TV rival Sky Cable.
PLDT said in its original announcement that the proposed transaction was aligned with its “mission to narrow the digital divide by expanding broadband connectivity, and supports the government’s push to expand the nation’s digital infrastructure”.
The company also said that the acquisition would benefit broadband subscribers of both PLDT and Sky by strengthening and expanding coverage p...
ABS-CBN has begun funeral rites for its once lively Sky Cable platform, which goes dark 26 February at one minute to midnight.
On Friday, ABS-CBN thanked subscribers for their ”years of support and for making SkyCable a part of your home”.
The farewell follows last year’s sale of ABS-CBN Corporation’s interest in Sky Cable’s broadband business and related assets to Philippines’ telco/media giant PLDT.
A condition of sale was that Sky’s pay-TV/cable business – one of the region’s longest-running pay-TV platforms – was terminated.
Sky will now transition into a dedicated internet service provider.
The Philippine Competition Commission gave the go-ahead earlier this month, but the sale is still subject to various closing conditions.
The PLDT’s acquisition of Sky’s broadband business was announced in March last year in a PHP6.75-billion/US$123-million deal.
In terms of the original announcement, ABS-CBN will receive about PHP4 billion/US$73 million for its 58.7% stake in Sky Cable.
At the time, ABS-CBN described its exit as a “strategic decision” driven by the capex required to maintain the platform’s competitiveness.
ABS-CBN said that the sale would allow the company to “focus its resources on content creation”.
The sale follows years of to and fro between PLDT and ABS-CBN, which was forced off air in 2020 after its broadcast franchise was not renewed.
In late 2020, a deal that included Sky Cable’s pay-TV business collapsed because of anti-trust regulatory risks.
At the time, the deal would have combined the PLDT’s Cignal TV with one-time pay-TV rival Sky Cable.
PLDT said in its original announcement that the proposed transaction was aligned with its “mission to narrow the digital divide by expanding broadband connectivity, and supports the government’s push to expand the nation’s digital infrastructure”.
The company also said that the acquisition would benefit broadband subscribers of both PLDT and Sky by strengthening and expanding coverage particularly in remote areas; and upgrading overall customer experience.
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